


Hadid

by thudworm



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Dragon Riders, Iron Man 1 AU, M/M, Matchmaking, Meddling Dragons, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, with added dragons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thudworm/pseuds/thudworm
Summary: An AU of Iron Man 1, now with added dragons.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619530
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	1. S1- AU: Dragon Rider

**Author's Note:**

> Hadid is the Arabic word for 'iron', for reasons that will be explained next chapter. I'm trusting Google Translate, but I'm open to correction if anyone knows better.
> 
> Title: Hadid (Chapter 1)  
> Collaborator Name: thudworm  
> Card Number: 3093  
> Square Filled: S1- AU: Dragon Rider  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/James "Rhodey" Rhodes  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags: Dragon Riders, Iron Man 1 AU, Mutual Pining  
> Summary: An AU of Iron Man 1, now with added dragons.

**Assessment of dragon population statistics**

_ Leonardo Morton, Cameron Sheridan _

The worldwide population of dragons has always been known to be low, but it is unknown if their numbers have been consistently this low over the centuries, or if they are in decline. There is debate regarding the accuracy of the historical data used to compare the current population to past numbers. More accurate data is currently available than at any past point. There is also a belief that the number of dragon bonded is historically overrepresented, partially because historical accounts are typically focused on important figures of society (it is a known trend for dragons to be disproportionately bonded to leaders), and partially due to lies made by a person to inflate their apparent standing. 

Some discrepancy could be explained as an issue of perception rather than facts- a stable dragon population would seem to have comparatively shrunk as compared to the rapid expansion of human population numbers over the past several centuries. 

Little is known regarding the details of dragon reproduction and mating rituals, they are closely guarded secrets. There is concern that habitat loss has been caused by the expansion of human civilisations, negatively impacting features of the environment necessary for dragon reproduction and causing the fertility rate to drop below replacement levels. 

——

**Evaluation of leadership skills as related to dragon bonding**

_ Aisha Chang, Dominic Lacey, Todd Novak _

There is much which remains unknown regarding dragons and their ability to form a psychic link with humans, known as dragon bonding. One such unanswered question concerns the reasoning behind which humans are chosen to form such a link. 

There is a definitive statistical correlation indicating that dragons will preferentially bond with persons who are, or will be, in leadership roles, whether political, military, religious, or otherwise. This trend remains significant even when confounding factors are accounted for. It remains unclear whether this trend can be attributed to dragons valuing qualities which are associated with leadership skills. One alternative hypothesis suggests that awareness of the trend creates a self-fulfilling cycle, in which dragon bonded are more likely to be chosen for leadership roles because of the assumption that they are naturally better leaders. 

Further complicating matters is the lack of verifiable information on the dragon bonded status for many historical figures. Not only is there a lack of recorded information as to status, there are conflicting accounts for numerous leaders. The presumed motive for incorrectly naming a person as dragon bonded, or denying a bond which existed, is to support or undermine their position depending on which faction the author belonged to. This does indicate that the presumed link between dragon bonding and leadership qualities has been in the public awareness for many centuries. This again ties into the question of if it is a cause or an effect.

——

Tony slumped back in his chair with a sigh and rubbed at his eyes. It was pointless. He’d hoped that having access to MIT’s catalog of journals would finally provide him with some answers, but he’d been wrong. The supposed experts didn’t have a damn clue about how things really worked with dragons, and even those people who were dragon bonded either wouldn’t or couldn’t provide answers. 

For as long as Tony could remember he’d been fascinated by dragons. As a child he would constantly ask questions of an amazingly patient Jarvis, who would also tell him stories of far off places featuring all sorts of characters and their dragons. Those stories were some of his earliest (and fondest) memories if he was honest. 

When his desire for more information grew beyond the answers Jarvis could provide Tony began seeking out wherever he could find it. The library in the Stark mansion covered a vast range of subjects, from history to science to biographies. So, whenever he could escape the nannies and tutors assigned to him, or he was home from boarding school, that was where Tony could be found. Nose buried in a book, searching for the slightest bit of knowledge about dragons he didn’t already know. 

One question Tony had never been able to find a satisfactory answer to was what it was like to be bonded to a dragon. Most dragon bonded were notoriously secretive about the details, including why their dragon had chosen to bond with them in the first place, and the ones who would talk about it were vague to the point of meaninglessness when asked. The question was always deflected with a joke or a vague platitude, if it wasn’t completely ignored. 

Tony had actually met several dragons bonded over the years, but he’d never had the opportunity to ask questions. Each one had been either a business associate of Howard’s, or were from the military and there exclusively to talk about weapons. The extent of his interaction with them had been limited to a polite greeting- if Howard could even be bothered introducing him. Now he was sharing a dorm room with someone dragon bonded, but he was no closer to the answers he wanted. 

Tony checked his watch and sighed again. It was probably time he got back to his dorm room, before Rhodey sent out a search party. Just because he had lost track of time once or twice when working in the robotics lab, it didn’t mean he needed to be fussed over like a lost duckling. He especially hated it coming from Rhodey. Not because he disliked knowing Rhodey was one of the few people to give half a shit about him, but because it was only ‘big brother’ affection he seemed to get from him. What he wanted from,  _ with _ , Rhodey was romance. Even though he knew it was a bad idea he’d fallen hard and fast for his roommate, but Rhodey clearly didn’t feel the same about him. 

He mustn’t have done a good enough job at hiding his annoyance when he got back to the room he shared with Rhodey, because his roommate immediately asked what was wrong. 

Obviously he wasn’t about to confess his crush, especially not to his crush, so Tony just mumbled something about the library being useless. 

“Still trying to learn more about dragons, huh?” Rhodey was giving Tony a knowing look. “I’ve told you, I’m happy to answer your questions if I can.”

He knew that, but it seemed like the only questions he wanted were the ones Rhodey couldn’t, or wouldn’t, answer. Dragons were notoriously secret about certain things they considered private, and however they chose who to bond to, anyone who wouldn’t respect that wouldn’t be seen as worthy. Tony had also tried to find out what it was like being bonded to a dragon, but that was something Rhodey couldn’t explain. “I don’t know how to put it into words. It’s like trying to explain sound to a deaf person, or colour to a blind person.”

Tony sat on his bed and pulled out his physics textbook, but his mind wasn’t on the work. As much as he loved Rhodey now he knew him, when Tony had first learned he had been assigned a roommate who was dragon bonded it had seemed like the universe was having a laugh at his expense. Because, as Howard was incredibly fond of reminding him, he would have more luck sprouting wings and flying himself than he would trying to find a dragon who would see him as worthy enough to bond with. But knowing that it wouldn’t happen for him wasn’t enough to dampen his fascination. 

Rhodey’s dragon Smaug (apparently her first bonded human had apparently been a Tolkien fan), may have been the first dragon he had actually, physically met, but Tony had grown up constantly hearing stories about Captain America and his dragon. Howard had been the main source, but more than a few tales came from Aunt Peggy and the surviving members of the Howling Commandos when they came to visit Howard. 

Whenever Tony asked about Cap’s dragon, Peggy was happy to indulge him. According to her, Steve Rogers having been chosen by a dragon was the final bit of information Dr Erskine needed to convince Colonel Phillips that he was the right choice for the Super Soldier experiment, and the rest was history. 

Once, just once, Tony had asked why Captain America’s dragon hadn’t somehow saved him from the plane crash. Tony couldn’t have been older than 5 at the time, confused about why his father would need to spend long months searching the Arctic- couldn’t the dragon just lead everyone to where the plane was? Howard had not appreciated the question, and reacted with violence. 

If he had been met with that response for any other topic, Tony may have given up on it then and there; but dragons were different to him. Nothing could dull his enthusiasm. 


	2. K4- Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Hadid  
> Collaborator Name: @thudworm  
> Card Number: 3093  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860157/chapters/58188382 (Chapter 2)  
> Square Filled: K4- Cave (Chapter 2)  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/James "Rhodey" Rhodes  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags: Dragon Riders, Iron Man 1 AU, Mutual Pining  
> Summary: An AU of Iron Man 1, now with added dragons.  
> Word Count: 1,614 (Chapter 2)

Tony knew Rhodey meant well. He did. But it was getting harder and harder not to snap at his best friend when he just wouldn’t leave the subject of dragons well enough alone. 

It was a familiar topic of contention between them- Rhodey trying to convince him that not being dragon-bonded wasn’t as big a deal as Tony was making it, which was easy for Rhodey to say when he’d known his dragon for over twenty years. Plus, it was different for Rhodey, being military, than it was for Tony in the corporate world. 

It was true that both environments tended to self-select for a higher than average proportion of dragon-bonded individuals than average, particularly at high levels; but public perception was an essential part of whether Tony was considered capable at his job, which was never the case for any officer, as an individual. 

Worldwide, there weren’t many companies operating at the same level as Stark Industries without a dragon-bonded CEO. It had been lucky for Tony, back when Howard had died, that Obie wasn’t dragon-bonded either. There would have been no way in hell that the board would have agreed to let control of the company pass to him over a dragon-bonded. More than half of the current board members were bonded, and there were still occasional mutters about finding a replacement for him, particularly in the wake of some new scandal hitting the news. 

And it wasn’t like Tony could blame a lack of opportunity for his unbonded status. Dragons tended to group with other dragons, which meant working closely with dragon-bonded colleagues brought him into proximity to plenty of unbonded dragons, but none had shown any interest in him. 

It was subtle, the way some dragon-bonded looked down on him. A flick of the eyes to the sky, where his dragon would be if he had one. A back-handed compliment about  _ how well _ he was doing running an international corporation, all things considered. But even though Rhodey’s job involved liaising with SI, he wasn’t present in the meetings the sharks circled in. 

“What really matters is what’s in here,” Rhodey said, completing the cliche by pointing at Tony’s heart. 

“Just drop it,” Tony said with a sigh; and, miracle of miracles, Rhodey finally did. 

\---

Arriving at the testing site involved the usual pleasantries, shaking hands with an assortment of colonels and generals, plus an off-hand comment or two made in Tony’s direction about having to make sure all dragons present were clear from the line of fire.

The Jericho demonstration went off without a hitch. Not that Tony’d had any doubts about it, but it was still gratifying to see the change in how some of the brass were looking at him. A few were still looking at him like he wasn’t fit to be scraped off the bottom of their shoes, however, and he mentally said “I told you so” at Rhodey’s back. 

Even as he said it, he knew it was childish of him to take his frustration out on Rhodey, but he couldn’t bring himself to particularly care. “This is the fun-vee, you can ride in the hum-drum vee with the other dragon-bonded officers.”

He allowed the young soldiers he was riding with to distract him- it was easier to fall into the public Tony Stark persona and brag about being a playboy than to dwell on the dragon thing. Which was when everything went to hell. 

The less said about waking up in a cave, with a car battery the only thing keeping him alive, the better. When he was told by his fellow prisoner that it’d been done to him to save his life, Tony couldn’t exactly say he was grateful. 

What had he saved it for?

So that he could build a Jericho missile for the terrorists who had blown up the convoy and kidnapped him? No. Despite being called the Merchant of Death, and the accusations of war profiteering hurled his way, he would not sell his soul to save his life. 

Being water boarded was obviously a deeply unpleasant experience, but it was taken to a new depth of hell when, while gasping for air, he had to try and keep the water from splashing onto the battery keeping him alive. His struggle to not electrocute himself seemed to amuse his captors, which was why Tony was surprised when they cut the torture session short, on what he thought was the fifth day. 

He was unceremoniously shoved back into the cell he shared with his fellow prisoner. “I’m not saying I’m not glad for it, but I don’t trust them going easy on me today,” Tony said as he collapsed onto his bed and tried to get his breathing back under control.

“There is a dragon living deep in the caves under these mountains. And whenever it ventures close enough to this encampment to be heard, everyone abandons their tasks to attempt to capture it,” the man explained. He really should ask him his name one of these days, Tony thought to himself. 

The man continued. “They persist in chasing the dragon despite the fact that it clearly does not wish to be found, by these men at least, and it would not end well for them if it decides to make its displeasure known.” 

When they came for him the next morning and shoved the bag over his head like usual, Tony expected them to make up for lost time with the waterboarding. Instead, he was brought outside. To see the massive stockpile of weapons they had already acquired. With his name on them. It was ostensibly to show him that everything he would need to build a Jericho was already here, but there was a subtext to the display. ‘We have so many of your weapons already, what difference does it make to give us one more.’

Supposedly, he would be set free once he gave them what they wanted. It was bullshit, and everyone present knew it was bullshit, but maybe playing along for now would buy him more time to think of something, because their patience with his outright refusal to cooperate would run out sooner or later. 

\---

Tony was staring into the flames of their little campfire, mentally a million miles away, when his thoughts were interrupted. 

“I’m sure they’re looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains.”

Obviously he was considered important enough for the US military to put in more than a perfunctory effort to rescue him. But they would eventually put it into the too hard basket, and declare him dead. Rhodey would never give up on him, would never stop looking, but he had no idea if Rhodey was even still alive. 

“Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life’s work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark. Or are you going to do something about it?”

“Why should I do anything? They’re going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don’t I'll probably be dead in a week. 

“Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn’t it?”

Damn it, he was right. 

Tony couldn’t sit back and rely on a rescue that may or may not be coming- he would have to set himself free. And if he could do some damage, regardless of how successful the escape attempt was, all the better. 

The first step was detaching himself from the metaphorical ball-and-chain keeping him alive, the car battery. 

Staring at the finished mini arc reactor, it almost didn’t seem real. As Yinsen, as Tony had finally learned the man’s name was, asked questions about the reactor, Tony decided he could trust him with his plan to escape. His life was already in Yinsen’s hands; hell, he was the only reason Tony wasn’t already dead. 

\---

Playing backgammon, using scrounged washers as counters, had become a regular part of their evening routine. What was not a regular occurance, however, was hearing the faint rumble of the dragon, followed by shouting in a dozen languages.

Tony exchanged a pointed look with Yinsen. They both knew without looking that the number of guards currently in front of the door to their cell was half of what it usually was, if not less. 

“It is unusual for a man of your standing to not have a dragon, is it not?” Yinsen asked.

“Yeah, and trust me- none of them let me forget it. More than once I’ve had the board of directors conspiring behind my back to try and replace me with someone ‘better suited’ to the role of CEO. Never mind that it’s my name on the damn company. Or that dear old dad managed to build the company from the ground up despite him not having a dragon either. But enough about me, you still haven’t told me where you’re from.”

“I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place.”

“Got a family?” 

“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here.”

“And you, Stark?”

There was only one person with whom Tony could ever consider building a family with; but, more than twenty years later, it was obvious that was never going to happen the way it did in his dreams. He had mostly learned to live with the fact that, as deep as they may be, Rhodey’s feelings towards him were solidly platonic. He didn’t bother explaining that to Yinsen, however, and just answered “no.”

“So you are a man who has everything, and nothing.”


	3. R4- [Image of Tony & Rhodey hugging in IM1]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Hadid  
> Collaborator Name: @thudworm  
> Card Number: 3093  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860157/chapters/60034945 (Chapter 3)  
> Square Filled: R4- [Image of Tony & Rhodey hugging in IM1] (Chapter 3)  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/James "Rhodey" Rhodes  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags: Dragon Riders, Iron Man 1 AU, Mutual Pining  
> Summary: An AU of Iron Man 1, now with added dragons.  
> Word Count: 1,700 (Chapter 3)

The plan had been to time their escape attempt to coincide when the dragon living under these mountains next made itself known. That was going to give them the best chance of success- when their captors were distracted, and half of them were deep in the tunnels chasing after the damn thing. But Raza had forced them to move up their schedule when he threatened Yinsen because of their lack of progress with the missile. 

Even if Tony had been willing to create a Jericho for his captors, there was no way it would be finished by the deadline. And even if he was more valuable to his captors alive, the same couldn’t be said for Yinsen. 

Now Yinsen was dead anyway, killed as he tried to buy more time for Tony to get the armour working. The plan had gone to shit in the first five minutes, and then moved from bad to worse. He’d been useless as Yinsen had died in front of him, only able to bear witness to his final words, an exhortation to not waste his life. He had paused there for a moment, trying to regain his focus, when something set off some of the munitions that had been stored just inside the entrance to the cave system. The resulting explosion had blown Tony several feet back, and collapsed the mouth of the cave. 

Now he was trekking deeper into the cave system, hoping to find a different exit since the one he’d planned on using was no longer an option. It was dark like Tony had never experienced before, but at least he had the tiny amount of light the arc reactor gave off to see with. Every 20 feet he used the edge of the wrist piece to scratch an arrow into the wall of the cave, because he decided the risk of getting hopelessly lost down here was greater than the chances of leading any surviving Ten Rings members after him. Not that he thought his chances of finding a way out were all that high, but he was determined to try anyway. He would rather die trying than give up. 

The rumbling sounds Tony had been hearing since his escape attempt were definitely getting louder. At first he thought it might have just been his imagination, but he was sure now. The question was whether the noise was coming from explosions caused by the Ten Rings stockpile going up in flames, or was he about to become face to face with a pissed off dragon?

As he rounded a corner, Tony had to come to a sudden stop, which was not easy in several hundred pounds of armour, lest he trip over the dragon’s tail. Any hope he might have had about running in the opposite direction before it noticed him was quickly extinguished when it lumbered its way around to face him. 

It gave him a long, lingering look. If Tony’s face hadn’t been hidden by the faceplate of the armour he would have described that look as boring into his soul. Which might have actually been due to the presence he could feel in the back of his mind. There were no words coming from the dragon, but that had to be what was happening here. It wasn’t a bond, but it was something.

Regardless of the exact nature of the connection, it should have been clear to the dragon how much Tony did not want to be picked up in the dragon’s claws and carried out of the caves. The path the dragon followed must have been how it came and went without being found, and it led to an exit on the other side to the mountain. 

Instead of flying off to wherever a dragon spent its time, it flew around to where the terrorists had set themselves up. At no point while it was raining destruction down on the camp did the dragon bother to talk to him, explain its motivation for finally doing something about the terrorists who had taken up next to its lair and tried to hunt it down. 

Once everything that could possibly be set on fire was burning away, the dragon took to the sky, and Tony had no choice but to be along for the ride. There was nothing of importance Tony could see in the direction it chose to fly. 

Or the random spot it dropped him in the middle of the desert, alone. 

Half buried in the sand, surrounded by the remains of his armour, Tony considered just not moving. The odds of him being found in the middle of the desert were even worse than when he’d been in that cave. And the explosions he left behind him on his way out might have attracted the right kind of attention. But he’d come too far to give up now. 

“It could have at least dropped me closer to a random town or village,” Tony grumbled as he began to dig his way free. 

The sun was beating down heavily on him, even with his jacket wrapped around his head. There were no landmarks to guide him, or any indication of which direction the closest settlement would be; so for lack of a better option Tony began trekking in the same direction the dragon had flown. 

He had no way of knowing how long he’d been fighting for every inch of distance, or if he was even managing to maintain a straight path. But what he did know was he had better find some form of shelter by the time the sun set. Because, as hot as it was now, once the sun went down the temperature would drop rapidly- possibly to below freezing. He had spent many nights in that cave shivering too badly to sleep, and it would be far worse out here, fully exposed to the elements. 

As much as possible, Tony tried to keep his head down and watch where he was putting his feet. Looking up led to sand being blown into his eyes, and it wasn’t like he had any water to flush them with. Which was why he hadn’t noticed there was something in the sky until it was fairly close. And it was getting closer. 

The closer it got the clearer it’s shape became- it was a dragon. At first Tony thought it was the dragon who had helped him escape, flying back to its home, maybe. But the colours were wrong. That dragon had been red and gold, this one was grey and black. 

It looked like Smaug, Rhodey’s dragon. But that didn’t necessarily mean it was. It could just be a dragon who looked similar. Or a mirage, a hallucination brought on by a combination of heat stroke and wishful thinking. 

Tony fell to his knees as he called out to the dragon and its rider, and the helicopter following them, not yet daring to hope. Even as he watched them land, and felt the sand being whipped into his face, Tony wasn’t quite convinced this wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. 

“How was the fun-vee?” Rhodey asked before resting his hand on Tony’s shoulder. 

It was real. Rhodey was really here, he was going to be rescued. He hadn’t dared to believe it was real until he had irrefutable proof, but Rhodey was definitely, solidly real. The grip on his shoulder had become a hug, probably the best hug Tony had ever had. Rhodey had come for him. 

“Next time you ride with me, okay,” Rhodey said, holding Tony tight enough to be painful with how much pressure it put on his battered and bruised ribs. Not that Tony cared much right then; he clung to Rhodey just as strongly in return. Neither of them were very willing to let go to give the medics a chance to check Tony over, but taking no for an answer was apparently not something the medics were willing to do. 

“How did you finally find me?” Tony asked, once they were loaded safely into the chopper. Rhodey had insisted on riding with him, leaving Smaug to follow behind, and Tony was too grateful to complain about the death grip his best friend had on his hand. 

Rhodey snorted. “Are you kidding? We just followed the fireworks. The team started searching the base, but there was no sign of you. Smaug somehow knew which way you might have gone, so I grabbed a set of medics and we started searching.” 

“Oh,” was all Tony could think to say. Between the pain and whatever was in his IV it was hard to think. 

“Just relax,” Rhodey told him, so he did. Once he stopped fighting it, the happy drugs the medics were pumping into him (and sheer exhaustion) started to work their magic and he slipped into unconsciousness. 

-

Laying there, being debriefed in his hospital bed because the-powers-that-be apparently couldn’t wait more than a few hours, Tony was forced to dredge up every last painful moment of his time in captivity. 

“Even minor details could be important, Mr Stark,” one of the generals had declared when challenged about disturbing the injured patient. 

It hurt to talk about Yinsen. To have to describe how the man had saved his life, but Tony had failed to do the same in return. Detailing the threats Raza has made to Yinsen’s life led into the escape attempt, and how it all went to hell. He told them about the exit being blocked, and how he’d had to venture deep into the cave system to find a different way out. But when he got to the part when he found the dragon who had aided him, he held back. 

He wasn’t exactly sure why it felt wrong to tell anyone about it, but part of it was a definite sense he’d gotten from it that it wanted its privacy. To not have anyone know where to find it. The dragon had been under no obligation at all to help him, so the least Tony could do was honour its wishes, since it was the only reason he had been in a position to be rescued. 


	4. A5- Soulbond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Hadid (Chapter 4)  
> Collaborator Name: @thudworm  
> Card Number: 3093  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860157/chapters/60326944/ (Chapter 4)  
> Square Filled: A5- Soulbond (Chapter 4)  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/James "Rhodey" Rhodes  
> Rating: Teen  
> Major Tags: Dragon Riders, Iron Man 1 AU, Mutual Pining  
> Summary: An AU of Iron Man 1, now with added dragons.  
> Word Count: 2,112 (Chapter 4)

It was odd to be around Rhodey’s dragon now, after having met the dragon who had helped to rescue him. It hadn’t actually spoken to him, not even to tell him it’s name, but there had been a degree of communication between them. Which made him uncomfortably aware of the lack of connection he had with Smaug, despite that having been the default for the past 20 years. That one short interaction had been enough to turn a lot of things on their head. 

When he brought it up with Rhodey (because even if he was keeping it a secret from the military at large, of course he would tell Rhodey), there wasn’t much advice Rhodey could give him. 

Touching back down on US soil was an even bigger relief than Tony had expected to feel. He was still unsteady on his feet, so when Rhodey offered his arm to assist Tony down the ramp, Tony didn’t reject the support. It was a good excuse to hold Rhodey’s hand, and he was going to take full advantage of it. 

Since being pulled from that desert he had practically kept Rhodey within arms reach at all time, not that Rhodey had seemed any more willing to let Tony out of his sight either. But now, back home, the brass were going to be a lot less forgiving of Rhodey putting Tony above everything else. 

Thankfully, Pepper would be with him instead, and Tony knew she was one of the few people Rhodey would trust. Pepper was the only other person Tony was willing to trust with the full knowledge of how he had escaped. 

The press conference was eccentric even by Tony’s usual standards, but he didn’t really care. Let them write whatever they wanted to about him, the only important part was the announcement SI would be shutting down weapons production immediately. 

Obie was clearly pissed and trying to hide it when he came to find Tony at the big arc reactor. It was also clear someone had tipped him off about the miniaturised reactor Tony had embedded in his chest, and was fishing for more information about it. Wherever he’d gotten his information from, however, it was clear he didn’t know about the dragon. 

Obie’s parting instruction to “lay low” was going to be easy enough to follow; Tony had more than enough plans to put into motion to keep himself busy. First and foremost of which was creating a replacement arc reactor, one that he hadn’t had to cobble together from scraps in a cave with the threat of death looming over him. 

-

Even before he made the journey to Edwards Air Force Base, Tony knew Rhodey was pissed at him about blindsiding him with the surprise announcement at the press conference, but being faced with it still hurt. Rhodey was the most important person in Tony’s life, and he hated it beyond words when those (thankfully rare) moments of true contention came between them. 

He tried to convince Rhodey to come see what he was working on, but Rhodey was certain that this was all just a passing fancy, and once Tony ‘got his mind right’ he’d resume making weapons. Which was not going to happen. 

Fine. He’d design it himself. Well, with JARVIS’ help, of course, but separate from any of the company’s data, on a seperate database. 

It had been far too long since Tony had last been able to lose himself in a project like this. The pure intellectual exercise in taking what would be impossible for anyone else and making it a reality.

Tony wanted to be able to fly. That short flight across the desert held in the talons of the dragon had lit the spark in him, and now he wanted more. His original escape plan had involved using the flamethrowers which had been built into the suit as an improvised jetpack, but then everything had gone sideways, and the dragon became involved instead. 

But the original plan had been sound, and there was no reason Tony couldn’t take the idea and make it better with the proper resources at his disposal this time. 

-

Tony resented being dragged away from his project just to listen to Obie complaining about him having missed the board of directors meeting. The meeting he was certain he hadn’t been told was a board of directors meeting, which was why he hadn’t gone to New York. Because Obie had told him to lay low. 

Tony decided he’d had enough of being blamed for doing the right thing by shutting down weapons production, and if he was going to be treated like a naughty child he’d lock himself in his room like one. 

Obie really did seem to have not moved beyond seeing Tony as Howard’s kid, thinking he could bribe Tony with pizza to get him to do whatever he wanted. But there was no way he was handing over the arc reactor, regardless of what Obie said about it being enough to keep the board off his back. 

-

Flying was not as easy as it looked, but Tony was never one to shy away from a challenge. 

Like he told JARVIS, “sometimes you’ve gotta run before you can walk.” Using that as a motto of sorts hadn’t gone wrong for him so far in his life, so why not now as well. 

There was nothing that could compare to being able to fly. Tony had never felt so alive, or so free. Attempting to break the altitude record was an even bigger thrill, at least until an icing problem he hadn’t anticipated reared its ugly head. The terror of falling, frozen, was quickly outweighed by the thrill of the close call, like riding a rollercoaster. 

Crash landing through a couple of floors before coming to a stop on top of his Shelby Cobra hadn’t been part of the plan, but teething issues were to be expected. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t have some fun rebuilding the car anyway. 

But first things first. 

An ice pack or three later and he was already making notes for improvements to include in the mark three. The gold titanium alloy was a little ostentatious even by Tony’s standards, not that JARVIS needed to be snarky about it. 

The Roadster in the corner of the workshop caught his eye, and if the shade of red he told JARVIS to the armour specifications meant it also matched the dragon, that was nobody’s business but his. 

—-

Turning up unexpectedly at the Firefighter Family Fund Gala wasn’t exactly how Tony had planned on spending the evening after the first successful test flight, but spite was a wonderful motivator. Invitation got lost in the mail? ‘Bedridden with PTSD’? 

He’d show them. (Plus, he had five hours to kill before the next generation of armour was ready for testing anyway.)

He couldn’t even manage to get himself a scotch before he was approached by someone wanting something from him. 

Agent Coulson. The name was familiar, and after a second of thought he remembered where he’d heard it. Pepper had told him about the man who represented one of the many agencies eager to know more about what had happened during his time in captivity. There was something different about how insistent this guy was, though.

An agency with a ‘more specific focus’ which wanted to debrief him about unanswered questions related to the circumstances of his escape. This was either about the armour, or the dragon. Not that it mattered much- Tony had no intention of telling the suspiciously bland agent any more details than the rest of the agencies had gotten from him. 

Tony agreed to whatever the Agent suggested without really paying attention. He was far too distracted when he noticed Pepper standing across the room near the dance floor. Dancing with Pepper was as good an excuse as any to avoid the agent. 

His bad luck struck again when Pepper sent him to get a martini, except this time it was a reporter. And because his luck really was that terrible, not just any reporter- Christine Everhart. Being confronted with the photos she all but threw in his face left him with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. But then.

Then.

Obie was still where he’d been as Tony arrived at the Gala, holding court with various reporters and talking about Stark Industries like he had any right. 

Telling Tony he couldn’t afford to be this naive. Like expecting the man  father-figure who had helped him run the company from the beginning to not be double-dealing weapons was childish. 

Just like he should have known who was behind the injunction to lock him out from his own company. For his own ‘protection’. 

The therapist Pepper had been nagging him to go see (not that he was ever going to) would probably have had a field day with him blasting his own reflection with the newly tuned gauntlet, but Tony didn’t care. He deserved the hatred he was feeling for himself right now, possibly even more than Obie deserved it. 

—-

It was almost too easy to take down the Ten Rings when they had no effective way of threatening him with their weapons, and he had the ability to target around the civilians they were using as human shields. 

Even the tank they used to knock him out of the sky barely dented the armour. From there it was simple to take out what remained of their stockpile of weapons, and Tony had to admit he felt a certain amount of satisfaction in being the one to do the destruction this time, instead of just watching as the dragon did the work. 

Almost as if his thinking had summoned it, there it was. The dragon. Flying alongside him. 

Tony just about fell out of the sky when it not just reestablished the connection from the cave, but invited him to bond with it. Hadid. He had a dragon and his name was Hadid. Somehow he knew that the name meant ‘iron’, and he had been given that name because his first human had been searching for iron to mine when the dragon claimed him. 

Tony was still in shock from Hadid turning up (the dragon wanted to bond with him!) when Rhodey called, suspicious. He couldn’t resist the jab about doing the military’s job for them, still a bit pissed off with Rhodey’s anger about weapon production. Claiming to be jogging in the canyon was far from his best attempt at deflection, but it was hard to be creative with everything happening at once. 

Rhodey quickly caught on that Tony wasn’t in the mood to cooperate right now and called his bluff about not having any tech in the area. “It’s about to be blown to kingdom come.” 

Oh this was not good. Not good at all. 

Coming up behind him were two F-22 Raptors, and he knew better than to hope they were up here for a reason that wasn’t him. 

JARVIS activated every possible alert and alarm the armour had as they locked on targeting him. He was too busy trying to decide on the best way to evade the jets to notice what Hadid was doing; obviously the jets had no reason to be concerned with a dragon. 

But the jets blew straight past him, because Hadid had maneuvered his way to be practically on top of the armour. Any closer and he’d be scraping his belly. The paint job he’d chosen had the unexpected benefit of helping him blend in and avoid being spotted by the jets. 

There wasn’t going to be a simple way out of this without Rhodey’s help- the jets weren’t going to give up easily, and he didn’t want to risk them flying too close. 

“JARVIS, dial Rhodey back.”

“Hello?”

“Hi Rhodey, it’s me.”

“It’s who?” Rhodey asked, and yeah. Tony knew he deserved that. 

“I’m sorry, it is me. The thing you’re trying to shoot down is me. It’s a suit of armour, and I’m in it.”

“What about the dragon I’m seeing on my monitors?”

“He’s with me.” 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Rhodey said, and then Tony was forced to play the waiting game. The jets that had been tailing him departed as quickly as they’d arrived, he assumed thanks to Rhodey. 

“Tony, you still there?” Rhodey asked after a few minutes. 

“You going to come by and see what I’m working on?”

“No, no, no. The less I know, the better.”

Tony smiled to himself within the armour. He and Rhodey were going to be okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 2 will be a fill for square K4- Cave.


End file.
